Hogg: “We Put Pressure On Ourselves”
It was a disappointing start to the Aviva Premiership season last Friday as Newcastle Falcons fell 27-39 at home to Gloucester Rugby.
Speaking after the game, Scotland international Ally Hogg was frank about his side’s shortfalls, but also stressed the importance of the Falcons putting the game behind them in order to move on.
“It boils down to ill-discipline and we didn’t really exit well,” the Back Row said. “If we’d got those things right we would’ve eased the pressure off because we put pressure on ourselves and need not to do that.
“We gave away 27 points which is criminal, but now just need to keep our heads down, work hard next week and build from there. We know what needs to be fixed so it’s just a case of getting back into training and sorting those things out.”
Going in at half time 3-27 down, the Falcons put in a strong second half performance but weren’t able to make up the deficit.
However Hogg highlighted a number of positives from his side’s efforts.
“We had a good second half and scored three good tries. We created some stuff too and got a good driving maul; the one we got going we scored a try from so maybe we should’ve done that a bit earlier.”
There is no let up for the Falcons, with a trip to Milton Keynes next up, where they’ll face Northampton Saints at their temporary home this Saturday.
“We just review the game, then park it and move on to Northampton. It’s a case of going through the video, seeing where we went wrong and as I said the exits and the penalties, then try and move forward from there.”
For Hogg personally, Friday represented a slightly faster return to action than expected, less than five weeks after an appendectomy.
“Well my stomach never fell out and it feels alright! It’s good that I got thrown into it and had to just get stuck in. I was a little bit rusty and missed a tackle which was a tad annoying but you’ve just got to keep going.”
Hogg was one of a number of Falcons’ casualties over a pre-season period that saw extensive injuries amongst the squad. However, with many of those players now back to fitness and seven of the Falcons’ nine Rugby World Cup players having returned to the club, ranks are already being bolstered.
“It’s good that you’ve guys like Micky, Josh, Eric coming off the bench – international guys. Then you’ve got others still to come back too, the likes of Giamba once he finds his feet with the move.
“There’s a lot of competition for places in the squad now, especially for us in the back row. You’ve got Mark Wilson still to come back in, Nili still to come back in as well, which is really pushing us going forward. That can only mean good things, it means performances like this you’ve got to put behind you and keep performing and hopefully that will only aid the performances of the squad.”
